The Way They Were
by dancer4ver
Summary: "Happily Ever After is a sadistic phrase invented to lure us into a false sense of security when it comes to our relationships. Yours included, Naruto". A short story in which Naruto learns love is only step one. SasuNaru. One-shot.


**A/N:**A little something I whipped up. Sorry if it seems kind of boring and plotless. I'm at a bit of a low in the area of creativity, tee hee :D

Enjoy!

**Dedication**: This story is dedicated to Boghs on Naruto Forums. I hope you enjoy your gifts!

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (tear)**

* * *

The cold, soft blanket of white snow lay untouched and shimmering in the cool afternoon light. It was an image of stillness and serenity, a fresh outlook in comparison to the brown slush and trampled paths that surrounded it. Somehow, this single strip had remained pure and preserved and-

_Crunch!_

Uzumaki Naruto gritted his teeth in anger as he stomped through the path of snow, head down and mind distracted to all around him as he made his way towards his destination. The normally bubbly blond emitted a dark aura as he passed, earning him looks of confusion and fear, but he ignored them, lost in his own swirling haze of thoughts, emotions blocking all senses, his body moving on a temporary autopilot. He had one place to go and it was here he would find his answers.

The bell of the Yamanaka Flower Shop jangled with a startling harshness, silencing the previously smooth flow of conversation between the only two occupants, one leaning over the counter, the other reclined comfortably in front, body draped over a wooden chair that had long been her companion.

"Naruto?", Ino was the first to recover, light blue eyes questioning with slight flickers of compassion and irritation as well. He had interrupted a very _important_ conversation. "What are you doing here?" She asked.

Konoha's future Hokage was silent for a moment, mouth opening and closing, struggling to form words despite the mess that rattled around in his brain. It took a few seconds and a lot of effort before the indecipherable grunts became comprehensible speech.

"T-that…bastard" he finally breathed out, whole body flushing and drooping slightly with this new revelation.

Ino exchanged a glance with her best friend. Sakura looked away and pretended to admire the ceiling. _Is that new paint on the walls?_

Ino glared at her best friend. Sakura continued to ignore her, eyes now flickering to the floor. _Have these floors been polished recently?_

Ino sighed in defeat and with a tired air, beckoned Naruto away from the door and into the shop.

"Sasuke-kun has done what now?"

* * *

"He's an asshole and I should have let him rot in prison!" Naruto shouted fiercely, causing his companions to flinch.

The past half hour had been a rant of profanities and an intense amount of slandering against a certain Uchiha Sasuke. Sakura and Ino had given up trying to figure out what had caused this outburst of emotion, having dealt with similar situations too many times in the past months. They had learned to play their roles to best degree. They were the sympathetic ears who comforted and cuddled and then offered treats of ramen and ice cream. They did _not_give advice because that was the way they were. And Naruto wouldn't have listened anyway.

However, as Sakura watched Naruto make frantic hand gestures in correlation to his story, she did something new.

"Perhaps you and Sasuke-kun are taking this thing too fast". Her voice cut through the air.

There was a deep, pressing silence, and Sakura flushed under the gaze of her two friends as they examined her meticulously for signs of insanity.

Naruto responded first, eyes still wide in shock, "I don't understand Sakura-chan".

He received his answer from Ino, who, after a moment's surprise, understood where the pink-haired girl was getting at, and decided to continue where she left off.

"Naruto, I'm going to say something and you might not like it, but I'd advise you to listen anyway, "Ino hesitated as now all eyes were on her. Hand fidgety and flighty she looked away as she spoke, "Naruto, relationship-wise, you and Sasuke-kun are the two most ignorant people in the world".

Naruto felt his jaw drop and Sakura barely held back a gasp. Ino bit her lip as she broke the unspoken rule upheld by the three friends. _Do not insult thy friends relationship, or thy is doomed to be shunned and scorned_.

It was not the best way of taking things, but it avoided unnecessary, brutal battles, that caused large frictions in friendship that Sakura and Ino had had enough of. A system of positive reinforcement had been implemented. One encouraged, but did not meddle, because the results could only be tragic.

However, there was only so much positive reinforcement that could be given to a pair that seemed destined to be perpetually at each other's throats. Sakura was tired Naruto's whining and Ino was tired of Sasuke's dark looks and brooding attitude.

The best friends exchanged glances and with swift nods decided it was time to take matters into their own hands.

Naruto paled as the women straightened up, tucking loose curls behind ears and smoothing invisible creases in skirts. They meant business.

Sakura cleared her throat. "Naruto, as I said before, you both have gone too far, too fast. Slow down and back track".

Naruto finally spoke up, "The relationship is going fine, Sakura-chan, it's that bastards fault that stuff like this keeps happening!" He couldn't believe the two women were doing this to him now. He had sought them out for solace, not advice!

"It's both of your faults, because neither of you seem to understand the concept of compromise" Sakura said knowingly.

"I know how to compromise!" Naruto shot back, "It's Sasuke-"

Ino cut in here, "First of all Naruto, if we all wish to reach a solution here, you need to stop blaming Sasuke".

"But Sasuke-"

"Does not make up the whole relationship. There are two of you and thus you are equally responsible" Sakura said. "I feel the real problem here is you and Sasuke-kun are abusing your relationship with your inability to approach it in an appropriate manner. You both view it as another mission, preventing yourselves from grasping the main point".

Naruto looked blank for a moment, before speaking, "Which is?"

"Communication!" Sakura and Ino said together. The blond glared at this and opened his mouth to protest but for some reason, could find nothing to say against this claim.

"Honestly, Naruto, you and Sasuke-kun make a lovely pair" Ino began

"The envy of all couple in Konoha!" Sakura squealed.

"When you two have to it good, it's really good. When you two have it bad, it results in months of building repairs and significant increases in civilian taxes". Ino continued.

"Not to mention another spike in Tsunade-sama's blood pressure", Sakura added.

"You and Sasuke-kun have opposite personalities, that when brought together, create an excellent dynamic. This being so, you two should be living happily ever after" Ino pointed out.

"I know!" Naruto broke into the stream of conversation, "But-"

"But unfortunately, 'Happily Ever After' is a sadistic phrase invented to lure us into a false sense of security when it comes to relationships. Yours included Naruto". Sakura said, slightly crushing the blonde's spirit.

"So this being said, let us address the problems of this relationship. Naruto, answer this question: Why are you and Sasuke-kun together in the first place?" Ino asked, already formulating her responses.

Naruto made a motion to speak but closed his mouth and cast his gaze at the floor. No answer.

"As I anticipated. You don't know" Ino said knowingly.

"No!" Naruto protested, "It's not that I don't know…" He trailed off.

"But you won't say" Sakura observed. She snorted. "Oh stop with all this tough guy shit, Naruto. Just say it".

Naruto flushed and scowled at the woman who merely rolled their eyes, all too used to this attitude. Feeling defeated, the blond looked away and muttered something indecipherable.

"What was that? I don't think I caught that Naruto. Can you say it again?" Ino smirked as Naruto shot her a dark look.

"I said..I….him" he repeated, slightly louder, but not fully audible.

"What?" the two women asked, grinning now.

Naruto sighed. "I said….I love him".

"Aww! So cute!" Ino gushed and Sakura's eyes sparkled with fangirlish fantasies of romance and steamy sex.

"S-Shut up!" Naruto hissed, face bright red.

"I'm sorry Naruto," Ino said, as she tried to contain her emotions and Sakura fanned herself to stave off the sudden waves of heat that flooded her body. "But you both are more than adorable".

"How does that solve our problem?!" Naruto screeched.

"It doesn't, but it does give us something to work with" Sakura said, getting back to business. "I would advise you and Sasuke-kun to reach a happy medium".

"Huh?"

" A happy medium, " Sakura repeated, "Where there exists both your affection for each other, but also a healthy flow of communication".

"Basically" Ino said, "Less sex. More talk"

"Exactly" Sakura concluded, ignoring the flaming red that now completely covered Naruto's face.

"This…" he muttered quietly to himself, "…is not what I expected…"

* * *

"Why are we here again?" Kiba questioned, shifting uncomfortably in his seat. He glanced at his neighbor, and Neji's face conveyed similar questioning feelings.

"Because both of you are in successful relationships and thus must know _something_about how to work through them" Sasuke replied back, dark eyes serious and determined.

"Not me" Neji said shortly.

"What?" Kiba and Sasuke said in unison. The Hyuga merely nodded to affirm this statement.

"But what about that girl?" Kiba began.

"Left town"

"The pretty one, with brown hair?"

"Married"

"The tall one with a twin?"

"Dates girls now"

"TenTen?"

Neji shot him a dirty look, "Inuzuka, since when have I ever dated TenTen?"

Kiba shrugged, "I dunno, I just assumed. She's on your team…"

"Have you ever dated Hinata-sama?"

"…No"

"Then don't assume" Neji frowned. "Besides, she's dating Lee"

"Enough!" Sasuke said darkly, already kicking himself for getting into this situation in the first place, "I didn't bring you guys here to talk about Neji's failed love life…"

"It's not 'failed'…" Neji pouted slightly.

"…I brought you here so that you could help me out with _my_relationship. Now Neji aside, Kiba, you are at least in a successful relationship, right?" Sasuke turned to the dog nin who opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted.

"Yeah, but he's whipped" Neji remarked snidely.

"A-Am not!" Kiba retorted, tanned face flushing.

"Oh Hello there Sakura-san" Neji indicated to someone behind Kiba

"S-Sakura?" Kiba squeaked, face pale as he whipped around to fortunately find the rosette nowhere in sight.

"You asshole!" he growled as he turned back to the table. Neji only smirked and Sasuke facepalmed.

"Like I said, whipped". Neji said.

"Why you-" Kiba started, but was silenced by dark waves of death that were rolling off the fully frustrated Uchiha.

"I said, enough" Sasuke's voice was cold and dangerous and the two men before him exchanged looks of slight fear, before Kiba ventured to talk.

"Uh, so Uchiha, having, uh, relationship troubles?" he stammered.

The death waves subsided and Sasuke sunk back into his chair, rubbing his temples as the faint symptoms of a headache began to rise.

"It's that idiot" he said tiredly. "I don't know what to do with him".

"You and Naruto fighting again?" Kiba asked, slightly amused.

"It seems you and Uzumaki seem to be frequently in some argument. What is the cause of this one?" Neji asked.

"Hell if I know. There's always something wrong with that guy" Sasuke grumbled.

Kiba and Neji exchanged looks once more. This time Neji spoke first.

"Then perhaps you should inquire as to what is troubling him".

"Yeah, what do you usually do when he gets upset?" Kiba asked.

"Ignore him" Sasuke said bluntly.

Both men rolled their eyes and sighed, as if to say 'what can you do with beginners'.

"What?" Sasuke asked, irritation growing once more.

"Dude, you can't just ignore him all the time" Kiba stated.

Neji nodded in agreement, "It's a mutual exchange".

"But he's annoying" Sasuke pointed out, "Do you know how troublesome it would be to listen to everyone of his whiny complaints?"

"You know, you kind of sounded like Shikamaru there" Kiba said chuckling, but then stopped when the other two shot him dark looks. "Sorry," he said quickly.

"Anyways," Neji said turning back to Sasuke, "the real issue here is a lack of communication and perhaps a lack of an expression of feelings from you Uchiha".

"A lack of an expression of feelings?" Sasuke repeated, scowling at the words that tumbled strangely out of his mouth. "I'm not following".

"Perhaps if you expressed your feelings for Uzumaki more openly and frequently, you would not encounter such arguments as commonly as you do". Neji further explained.

"Yeah, what he said" Kiba added unnecessarily.

"So I should be more open with him" Sasuke said slowly as he processed this information.

"Show him you care"

"Bring him flowers" Kiba suggested. Neji gave him a look.

"I'm not sure how much he would appreciate that…"

"But it would let him know you care" Kiba asserted.

"I'm sure Uchiha can express his feelings in a better way than flowers…" Neji said, turning back but was surprised to see the chair in front of him vacated.

"Hey! Where'd he go?" Kiba exclaimed.

"Um, Miss?" Neji asked a passing waitress, "Can you tell us what happened to the gentleman who was here before?"

"Oh you mean that tall, dark, handsome young man?" the woman said blushing lightly, "He said something about going to a flowershop. I wonder who the lucky lady is…" She giggled before continuing on.

Neji turned to Kiba, giving him a fully disgusted look. "You idiot"

"It's not my fault!"

"It was your stupid suggestion" Neji hissed, "Now Uchiha's gone".

"Yeah…so who's going to let us out of these chakra ropes?"

* * *

"Ok! That's enough! No more advice!" Naruto threw his hands up a fit of frustration, finally cracking after more than two hours of what he considered 'Ibiki-level' torture.

"But Naruto, isn't this helping?" Sakura asked.

"Yeah, " Ino added, "We're trying to improve your relationship with Sasuke-kun".

"I'm gratefully to you both, but…" Naruto began moving towards the exit. The two women closed in on him dangerously.

"But what?" they asked, eyes glittering menacingly.

"But…um I…oops!" Naruto's attempt at escape was interrupted as he bumped into someone entering the shop.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going, idiot", came the stoic reply.

Naruto whirled around, "Sasuke!" he said, just as Sakura and Ino squealed, "Sasuke-kun!"

Sasuke ignored the two women and focused on the person before him.

"What are you doing here, bastard?" Naruto asked, feeling flickers of returning anger.

"….I came to buy you a flower" Sasuke replied, slight tinges of pink appearing on his cheeks.

"What? Really?" Naruto was shocked. Both of them continued to ignore the squealing and cooing of the two females behind them. "Why would you do that?"

"…to…express my affection…" Sasuke didn't realize how stupid all of this sounded until it came out of his mouth.

"…oh" was all Naruto said.

"…"

There was a long silence; even Sakura and Ino were quiet, watching the events before them unfold like their favorite daytime soap opera.

"….well?" Sasuke asked finally.

"Well what?"

"Do you want the flower?"

Naruto shook his head, "Not really".

"…then what do you want?"

"I want…" Naruto glanced back at Sakura and Ino, both who were frantically mouthing the word 'communication!', before turning back to Sasuke who was staring apprehensively at him.

"I want…to go home" Naruto said, reaching out for Sasuke's hand.

Pale fingers entwined with tan and a faint flicker of a smile flitted over closed lips.

"..and talk?" Sasuke asked.

Naruto shook his head again, "No…maybe later, but not now"

"That's fine with me" Sasuke said and the pair exited the shop, leaving the two gaping women behind them.

"Perhaps," Sakura said after some time, "They don't need our help?"

"Of course they do!" Ino exclaimed. "…right?"

Sakura couldn't answer.

A relationship that could stand not only the test of time, but the tests of each other. That was Sasuke and Naruto. That was the way there were.

* * *

**A/N:** Ending too mushy? Sorry! (is shot)

With love

-dancer


End file.
